1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to furniture and methods of furniture construction. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of furniture manufacturing and an article of furniture, the method utilizing standardized unitized structural components, standardized fasteners and a geometrically balance assembly plan.
2. General Background and Prior Art
The construction of furniture and the like requires generally that materials be cut and/or formed to meet specifications prior to their assembly into a finished article of manufacture. Generally, the structural integrity of a given piece of furniture is insured by varying the configuration of individual structural components which form the final product. The cross-sectional dimensions of some members which receive greatest stress in use are generally larger than the dimensions of structural components which receive lesser stress. Additionally, variation in structural component configuration are necessary to give an aesthetically pleasing appearance to the final product to thereby enhance its saleability. Thus, when a particular article of furniture is manufactured, it is generally necessary to sacrifice efficiency and economy in order to achieve both an attractive and structurally worthy product. This sacrifice while producing perhaps a saleable item, usually results in an increase in price to the consuming public.
Patents have been issued for furniture construction methods and more specifically for the construction of chairs. Examples of two prior art devices which have been patented are provided by U.S. Pat. No. 1,813,020 issued to N. N. Brown on July 7, 1931 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,873,154 issued to R. E. Baker, Jr. on Mar. 25, 1975.
The present invention utilizes the uniform structural components in a balanced geometric assembly configuration which distributes stresses properly to all the members, thereby allowing individual components to be of a standard uniform and smaller size. The joints between members is a face-to-face pinned connection which allows the chair to be totally prefabricated before its final assembly which could be, for example, performed by the consumer himself. Since the individual structural components have a constant square cross-section, they can be drilled in manufacture without regard to orientation as to length or width. Likewise, once the individual component is predrilled for assembly, the final assembly requires a minimum amount of orientation of the member itself before assembly by the consumer.
Thus, the present invention lends itself to a total kit type operation whereby the manufacturer only provides individual structural components of a single uniform cross-section throughout their length, predrilled with necessary uniform diameter connection holes and a plurality of constant diameter binding fasteners to make a complete kit for assembling a chair. Other than these easily manufactured and economical components, only the balanced frame geometry and a set of assembly instructions is required.